Galveston Police Department apologize after a disturbing photo of a man on a leash

Galveston Police department apologized after a picture of a man taken by two police officers went viral. Galveston Police department posted on their social media the following message about the situation:

We became aware today of an arrest Saturday involving two mounted patrol officers and how the arrested individual was transported.

A transportation unit was not immediately available at the time of the arrest and a man was handcuffed and escorted beside two police officers on horses. While this technique of using mounted horses to transport a person during an arrest is considered a best practice in certain scenarios, such as during crowd control, the practice was not used correctly in this instance.

“Although this is a trained technique and best practice in some scenarios, I believe our officers showed poor judgment in this instance and could have waited for a transport unit at the location of the arrest. My officers did not have any malicious intent at the time of the arrest, but we have immediately changed the policy to prevent the use of this technique and will review all mounted training and procedures for more appropriate methods.” Chief Vernon L. Hale, III

We understand the negative perception of this action and believe it is most appropriate to cease the use of this technique. The Police Chief has taken immediate action to suspend this technique of transportation during arrests.

Please see the press release for more information.

Written by Abelina Tavera